Rampant Speculation: Did the Announcement of the Disney Believe Tease What's to Come on the New Ship?

BELIEVE ME when I say there is nothing official about what I'm thinking here.

Disney Cruise Line just revealed the name of their fourth Wish Class ship, but in doing so, they have prompted more questions with a video than needed just by announcing a ship's name. The Disney Believe, carrying a theme of "promise and possibilities," was revealed to be arriving in late 2027, and was accompanied with a video featuring what -at first - looks like a random sampling of Intellectual Property (IP) and stories, suggesting that they will be featured on the new ship. Instead of finding out anything official, I have opted to speculate with wild abandon on what these could mean for the new ship. That said, it's important to remember that The following is rampant speculation and is in NO way officially announced news regarding the Disney Believe.

Form Fitting

Each of the Wish class ships has largely the same general arrangement and deck plans, with constants throughout the class. Similarly, there are spaces that have changed throughout the newer ships, keeping the same idea in terms of lounge or restaurant space but adopting a new theme or IP to represent in each different ship. For example, each Wish Class pool deck features the Toy Story Splash Zone and the Hero Zone, but a lounge space like De Vil's on the Disney Destiny is unique to that ship, with Scat Cat Lounge in the same space on the Disney Treasure.

Constants include (but are not limited to):

  • The Adults only Quiet Cove and Cove Cafe - each taking on a Moana theme throughout the class
  • The premium dining options, Palo Steakhouse and Enchante (with their Beauty and the Beast theme), and the lounge between them - The Rose.
  • Hero Zone - A recreational area that puts out an Incredibles-themed inflatable obstacle course throughout the voyage
  • 1923 - Rotational Dining Experience (Though art displayed changes based on ship)
  • Worlds of Marvel - Rotational Dining Experience
  • Mickey and Friends Festival of Foods - Quick Service Dining
  • Marceline Market - Buffet
  • Kids Areas - Oceaneer's Club, Oceaneer's Lab, and "it's a small world" nursery, though each ship adopts a different entrance IP.
  • Teens and Tweens areas - Vibe and Edge
  • Hook's Barbery and Untangled Salon
  • Senses Spa and Fitness Center
  • Neverland Cinema and Wonderland Cinema
  • Walt Disney Theatre
  • Triton Lounge
  • Toy Story Splash Zone

The Variants

  • The variants are largely what makes the ships unique and represent their own familiar IP. Each of the Wish Class ships has dedicated spaces where one might feature say an experience based on Star Wars (with the Star Wars: Hyperspace Lounge) on the Disney Wish, but is replaced by the Haunted Mansion Parlor on the Disney Treasure and the Disney Destiny.
  • A central lounge on the Disney Wish might represent The Princess and the Frog with The Bayou, but is replaced by a Jungle Cruise-themed lounge - Skipper Society - on the Disney Treasure and The Sanctum (themed to Doctor Strange) aboard the Disney Destiny.
  • Each ship in the class also features a themed, musical, dinner show as part of the regular rotational dining experience, with a Frozen-based show aboard the Wish, a Coco show aboard the Treasure, and a musical dining experience themed to The Lion King aboard the Destiny.
  • As a final example, the double decker venue, Luna (on the Disney Wish) themed to the Pixar short, La Luna, becomes Sarabi (The Lion King) aboard the Disney Treasure and Saga on the Disney Destiny.
  • These variants are where most of the speculation will lie, as these are the areas and venues to have changed throughout the ship class as we've seen so far. This is based on precedent, and that's not to say that Disney Cruise Line can't really shock us with new areas - but they haven't yet after three ships in the class, so...expectations.

The Evidence

Based on the announcement that revealed the name of the new ship, there is several IP that is prominently featured out of the wide range of Disney IP.

The Theories

Using this as a guiding template, we might have an idea of what we might see on the new ship. Again, this is rampant speculation, and is in no way official. Most of it is based on what has already been done - again, in the name of not repeating themselves in the spaces that change from ship to ship. In that same vein, Toy Story, Iron Man, and Star Wars are already prominently used in some of the recurring venues, like the Toy Story Splash Zone or the Star Wars experiences in the Kids areas. However, Iron Man and other Marvel heroes are also represented by the Worlds of Marvel restaurant aboard each Wish class ship, so (personally) I'm not putting a whole lot of weight into these options unless otherwise noted.

The Candy Shop

Monsters, Inc. seems like the go to here. In the past, the ice cream and candy shop located near the Marceline Market has adopted themes from Zootopia, Inside Out, and The Incredibles. Hey, that knocks out a lot of the list. With one Monsters, Inc. attraction closing in Disneyland and development and construction on a new Monstropolis at Walt Disney World, there can be some double duty being done for the new ship. Although, and it's a long shot - the Disney Adventure did recently debut a premium dining experience with Mike & Sulley's Flavors of Asia, borrowing the concept of Harryhausen's from the original Pixar Animation Studios film. That said, the general arrangement of the Wish-class ships doesn't call or allow for this kind of dining experience unless they made some drastic changes.

Room Themes, Tower Suite

Any or all of these films could be the different room themes featured throughout the ship. Room themes across the class, each featuring art indicative of the films representing each ship's overall theme - have also yet to be repeated across the class. Based on this, we can immediately knock out Encanto, Frozen, Moana, and The Little Mermaid. Most of these are room themes aboard the Disney Wish, save for Encanto, which is featured on the Disney Treasure.

Suites, including the lone Tower Suite, can adopt any of these as well, except for Fantasia. Not only is Fantasia the theme of the concierge rooms on the Disney Destiny, it also serves as theme of the newly installed Tower Suite aboard the Disney Dream, though that is in a different ship class - so does it count? With the ship's theme of "Promise and Possibilities" they really seemed to have jumped the gun by installing the EPCOT theme into the Tower Suite aboard the adventure-themed Disney Treasure.

In that same regard, Iron Man / Tony Stark serves as the inspiration behind the design of the Tower Suite on the Disney Destiny. It would also be strange to highly tout and hint at one of the stories to be featured aboard the ship when it's only one room aboard the vessel.

The Mixed-Use Space

Pretending that each of the IP featured in the video are SOLELY what will be featured on the new ship (it won't be), I would throw Inside Out and Inside Out 2 into the the mixed-use, two story venue off the Grand Hall. The space - Luna on the Wish, Sarabi on the Treasure, and Saga on the Destiny - could easily get a Headquarters theme, with glowing lights indicative of the memory orbs scattered throughout.

The Lounges

Each ship features a pub of some kind, and I think Tangled might bring The Snuggly Duckling to that space on this ship if we're putting that movie anywhere. That said, this same idea could be the central lounge off the Grand Hall, complete with stage, to garner more family-based attention, but it would work better as a pub. Or, it's just marking that the Untangled Hair Salon is returning once again - which I'm sure it is.

The piano lounge, also off the Grand Hall, has taken on an Aristocats theme and 101 Dalmatians theme in the last two ships but prior was home to a Cinderella-themed lounge aboard the Wish. This could be a shot in the dark, but this one could take on the The Little Mermaid representation. De Vil's aboard the Disney Destiny has found huge success. While yes, retaining a villain theme aboard the new ship might raise an eyebrow, they could be trying to recreate the success in the template, but swapping out Ursula instead.

Or, channeling Nightingales aboard the Disney Wish, this is where Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs could come into play, especially if you consider the possibility of apple shaped specialty cocktail glasses.

Star Wars being in the video could be something daring - a return of the Star Wars: Hyperspace Lounge. The much-hyped venue from the new Disney Wish when it debuted kind of fell flat, garnering more attention for its outrageous pricing on specialty beverages (that yes, included a visit to the Skywalker Ranch in California) than it did on the actual venue itself. The idea was replaced by The Haunted Mansion Parlor on the following Wish class ships. Since that was repeated it's POSSIBLE that we could revisit the Hyperspace Lounge idea again, though I don't think it's PROBABLE.

We could get a weird circle of events too if a lounge themed to The Nightmare Before Christmas takes over the location that the Haunted Mansion Parlor occupies, but I think something more daring might happen with that particular IP.

The Coffee Shops

Two coffee shops, smaller in size but heavily themed/decorated to a specific IP are also featured aboard Wish class ships, and in the same spots on deck 4 and 5, directly above the other. These are wild cards, and could also be where Snow White or The Little Mermaid make their appearance. Inside Out and Monsters, Inc. are also viable options in these spaces.

Musical Dining

Currently, guests can enjoy musical dining experiences themed to Tangled aboard the Disney Magic, so I think we can nix that option right now. The Little Mermaid would also be a little difficult, based on the nature of the performers moving in and out while cruisers enjoy their meal. This is, of course, assuming Ariel is in her mermaid form. A wild card could be Moana taking over the musical dining on the ship - given that she has a theatrical production on the Treasure. However, a corresponding pacific island inspired menu could also be intriguing and make the concept work.

If I had to make a solid bet though - guests will be walking through the entrance of the Madrigal Casita with the dining venue taking on the Encanto theme. All the songs are there, even the movie itself opens with Mirabel singing to the townspeople, an identity guests may take on while walking into the restaurant. Plus, with the Colombian setting of the film, you would definitely have a delicious corresponding menu.

Or - Encanto's presence in the reel is just teasing the already-existing Encanto Celebracion featured aboard a number of Disney Cruise Line ships.

Your Theater Show

The Little Mermaid and Moana are both signature stage shows on the Wish and Treasure, respectively, and are highly unlikely to be duplicated within the same class, so we can cross those out already.

Now, you may have noticed that I left out The Nightmare Before Christmas in the previous dining entry. For a reason. Sure, The Nightmare Before Christmas is a musical movie but what kind of menu would they offer? Christmas dinner? Buckets of candy for halloween? It seems very seasonal for a year-round ship. That's why I think Disney might be making a huge step here and adapting (finally, as some would say) the Tim Burton classic for the Walt Disney Theater and their Broadway-caliber stage. The classic stop-motion animated film is practically made for live theater, and wondrous visuals with acclaimed talent would surely draw people to the new ship.

Additionally, once again, this is where Tangled makes another appearance. Each Disney ship has three shows. Typically one that is unique to each, one that is on each ship in the class, and another one typically on more than one ship.

Tangled is a musical aboard the Disney Magic, but has not been featured on any other ship...yet. While some could say that is unique to that ship so it can't be moved, we point to "Twice Charmed," a new and original twist on Cinderella that is only aboard the Disney Magic. I think Tangled could be making its way to round out the offerings aboard the Believe, with the aforementioned Nightmare as the unique offering, and Disney Seas the Adventure being carried over from the Wish, Treasure, and Destiny.

Although, how confusing would it be to get Disney's Believe from the Dream Class in the Walt Disney Theater aboard the Disney Believe?

It's easy to see how one 60-second video can send me - pun intended - reeling. But with nothing else to work from aside from some (what appear to be random) selections, these are all just guesses based on what we know from the existing Wish class ships. Or, they really were just random based on recent box office numbers and Disney+ viewing. We'll have to stay tuned, as we'll probably hear more in the coming months - likely at the upcoming D23 Event later this year.

To book a Disney Cruise Line voyage for yourself, be sure to reach out to Mouse Fan Travel!

Tony Betti
Originally from California where he studied a dying artform (hand-drawn animation), Tony has spent most of his adult life in the theme parks of Orlando. When he’s not writing for LP, he’s usually watching and studying something animated or arguing about “the good ole’ days” at the parks.
View all articles by Tony Betti